Sanction on Harvard's foreign students strikes at the heart of the university's global allure

For students around the world, an acceptance letter to Harvard University has represented the pinnacle of achievement. The letter offers a spot among the elite at a campus that produces Nobel Prize winners, captains of industry and global leaders. That prestige is now in jeopardy. In its intensifying fight with the White House, Harvard was dealt its heaviest blow yet on Thursday, when the government blocked the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students. The move threatens to undermine Harvard’s stature, its revenue and its appeal among top scholars around the world. Even more than the government’s $2.6 billion in research cuts, the administration’s action represents an existential threat for Harvard.